Responses in Policy and Practice to Radical Environmental Protest Targeting Key Parts of the Civil Infrastructure in Australia and the United Kingdom

Abstract

In advanced liberal democracies, proportionately responding to radical environmental protest that targets lawful business operations including those considered key parts of the civil infrastructure (such as those essential services involved in energy production) is a “wicked problem” that poses ongoing challenges, not least in attempting to balance rights of protest and free speech against securing essential services. The policing of protest continues to be controversial. Environmentalism and environmental activism is multi-faceted and diverse; it is no one thing and comes with a rich history. The repertoire of environmentally-motivated activism rests on a spectrum that spans lawful advocacy, protest and dissent through to violent acts of direct action protest (instrumental law breaking) considered prejudicial to the security of nation states and the safety of its communities and people. The scholarship focused on environmentalism, environmentally-motivated activism and environmentally- motivated protest is diverse and is situated in different bodies of literature including the social movement literature, political science, security and criminology. This reflects a broad philosophical and ideological base, a breadth of activism as well as different political, policy and policing responses to it across time and across jurisdictions. It is a sharply contested scholarship that evidences the conflicting and powerful narratives of (1) well-intentioned direct action protest against “corporate criminals” driven by genuine and deeply held environmental concerns, and (2) serious criminality that poses significant challenges to policymakers and police.